By Kath 3/3/04
March 3 2004

Sir Clive Woodward England's Head Coach talks to Zurich's Andrew Titheridge about his concerns for the A Team. It's important for all of the countries and the whole of the northern hemisphere that the A teams flourish

For immediate release: 3 March 2004
Issued on behalf of Zurich

Zurich Report with Clive Woodward
Speaking on www.zurichpremiership.com

Andrew Titheridge:   Clive one of the big concerns this season is that most of the home international teams are dropping their A sides, this must be a concern?

Sir Clive Woodward:   It's a huge worry for England and I'm doing a lot of work behind the scenes to try and get the A team tournament resurrected.  Wales started it really for financial reasons and I can understand it that you can't afford to run an A team you don't run an A team but I just believe in the Six Nations tournament.

It's important for all of the countries and the whole of the northern hemisphere that the A teams flourish, and it's a great addition to the whole tournament to have those Friday night games and from England's point of view we have really missed this tournament.

You look at the team that is playing this Friday such as Titterell and Forrester and Matt Stevens who we've had to take a bit of a risk by putting him into the first team as we haven't seen him play at A level.  

Last year the A team, brilliantly run by Joe Lydon, is one of the main reasons that I think we got our selection right for the World Cup, because we've got these extra games.  I think it's a huge loss and everybody has to take this on board especially the other countries. France want to play, Italy want to play and England want to play but if the other countries pull out we haven't got a tournament.  I think despite the cost of it everyone has to have a hard look at it.

Andrew Titheridge:    There are players in the side to meet France on Friday night like Mike Tindall who's not quite back to full fitness. But it gives him a chance to work his way back in without being brought immediately into international action?

Clive Woodward:    Yes you want to put your strongest side out and that team had two world cup winning players in Mike Catt and Mike Tindall, alongside in the back line Henry Paul and Phil Christophers.  These are experienced people but with Richard Haughton coming in on the wing, and he's had a magnificent career at seven a side, but this gives him a big chance to go out and play with a quality team and its excellent.

In the forwards we're very excited about Tom Palmer, Alex Brown, I've already mentioned Forrester and Titterell but this is a way these players can prove themselves and it is a vital tournament. Because players can play really well for their clubs but that's almost a very safe environment and international rugby is not like that.

You play out of your comfort zone at a higher level and you're playing with different players around you that you're not used to and then you can see the players that really flourish.

So I will be working very hard throughout the right channels to get the A team tournament resurrected and if we can't we've got to do something else.

We've got to have four or five A team fixtures every time the top international side play in the Six Nations and if not, we will have to go elsewhere to find the proper fixtures to play a proper A team programme throughout the season.

Andrew Titheridge:   Where could you go? The Super 12s have been mentioned, could we get Super 12 sides over here?


Clive Woodward:   Yes you wouldn't want to play any team for the sake of playing any team unless it was a really competitive game. There's no doubt that the top super 12 sides in South Africa would provide the quality of opposition we
need and if necessary we can go there. There is no time difference and Super 12 sides could come over here and you can look further round the world and see who else would like to be involved.

You've got teams like Canada, America and its those sides that we can really plough into. We've just got to plan ahead, we're into March now and really we've got to plan now for a year's time, we can' t just suddenly think lets do it next January it doesn't work like that.

We need decisions but I cannot stress enough how important the A team is for the senior team in order to get our selection and coaching right.

Andrew Titheridge:   Could we then have a scenario where an England A side are travelling overseas permanently and maybe entering a Super 12 competition?


Clive Woodward:   No, I never see that happening, these are one off fixtures and my first choice by a long way is playing it in the Six Nations. The Six Nations is an awesome tournament especially at U21 level and at A level.

If we can't get that we need to go and find one off fixtures. The Super 12 is the obvious place as they're just at the start of their major competition, no I can never see England A playing in a Super 12 competition that wouldn't be right and I wouldn't want that. But certainly to go and play a game in Cape Town for a weekend is certainly possible just as they come over here to play games.

We can fit four or five fixtures in, we can even fly to Johannesburg direct, that's what international sport is all about, there's no jet leg and little time difference.  Its what international sport is all about and its something I'm working on very very hard at the moment to make sure we get it right.

Andrew Titheridge:   The A team are here at Pennyhill Park with the main England squad, does that help both sides or do you have far too many people on the training pitch?


Clive Woodward:   No the complete opposite, its fantastic. All through last year's Six Nations this is how we operated and we won a Grand Slam.  We fundamentally operate as two different teams but there are times during the sessions when we link up.

You can do competitive line out and competitive scrums and you are training against quality people so that does make a difference but we encourage the two teams to keep apart.  It's a particularly big game for these A players because they know they've only got one chance.

Joe Lydon will be down there (in Perpignan) and in two weeks time will be picking another side to play against Wales and France. It's a big night for the players including Tindall and Catt and they want to prepare just like the full team does.

We train apart, every so often we come together and its almost back to the old days of the England trials of the As v the Bs.  Its not quite like that but when it comes to line out and scrums there's a bit of edge there as you don't want to be in the A team.

Andrew Titheridge:   Clive, Martin Johnson's retired, now Kyran Bracken has announced his retirement from International Rugby, is that a surprise for you?

 
Clive Woodward:   Not really, the way I look at it you've just got to look at both players and say well done. You can't debate it too much or worry about it. They both had fantastic careers for England and I wish them well. The big question is what are they going to do next.

I do talk to these players about coaching because they are outstanding people and I just worry about the lure of going into the media, and I worry that the media world will become too strong and top heavy with ex players. I would like the game to become top heavy in coaching and refereeing generating the new players.

I think with Kyran as well he's had a lot of injury problems and over the years he's done fantastically well. He was one of those players that was a  hero in the World Cup when he played against South Africa and especially at the scrum when Will Greenwood did the famous forward pass and from that scrum he hit Van der Westhuizen at the base and that almost won us the game and arguably could have won us the World Cup so its these little things. You see players at their best when sometimes they get their biggest disappointment.

He and Johnson are outstanding individuals and I'd like to see once they've settled down what they're going to do and is there a role for them. You've got to move on, now Bracken has officially gone, it is sad but no more than that, its his decision.

You then look at Ellis, Wood and Stuart Smith up at Leeds and see there's a new generation coming through. Just like everything else if you go someone steps up to your place, that's what international rugby is about. Just make sure you're planning for the future, shake their hand and move on, there's nothing more you can do. It's about the next game not the last game.

ENDS